Roland Bolt 60

This amp was made between 1797 to 1984 so it is older than myself by a long shot! It is a hybrid combo amp (valve power amp, solid state pre-amp) at an extremely loud 60 watts. It has Overdrive Channel: Volume 1, Volume 2, Master
Clean Channel: Master Volume, Bass, Mid, Treble Reverb (very sweet sounding reverb too) and an effects loop with pre and post eq setting and a post volume setting which i think was very ahead of its time for an amp that is 20+ years old.
I use this amp for post-punk/noise rock kinda stuff (think wire, this heat, mogwai, yeah yeah yeahs etc...) with many different pedals and it is fantastic. I have to say that my clean chanel is not working so this review is for the o/d chanel only. But with this said it sounds perfect to my ears. Plenty of clarity but with heaps of crunch and a very nice warm thick sound. Perfect for wall of sound type noise.

As mentioned above I am using this amp with many pedals (vintage boss octaver and dd-3. boss eq and hyper fuzz. Danelectro fabtone. Marshall jackhammer. Electro harmonix pulsar and memory man with hazari. just incase you need the full list ;) ) and i split my guitar signal from the memory man with the other half going to a vox valvetronix 50 watt. I play a epiphone wilshire re-issue with p90 pickups. It fits my playing style like a glove and really compliments my vox's crisp sound very well. I dont find the amp produces that much noise, no more than the vox and with all of the pedals in the signal chain (which i run into the high gain input, not the effects loop) it is still quiet, even more so considering its age.
If you wnt to hear this all in action check out my band at

http://www.myspace.com/pioneersofgoodscience

we are a 2 piece band, guitar and drums.

One of the first gigs i went to play with it i plugged it in and no sound came out what so ever. i took it to my local guitar shop and he had it back to me in 3 days telling me the amp was rusted. He seemed to fix it easy enough and it only cost me $50 AUS, but to return it to its former glory, including getting the clean chanel up and running will be $100 AUS
This problem seemed to be caused by the former owner not caring for this amp properly.
I have been using the amp almost every day since getting it fixed 7-8months ago and have had no problems what so ever.

I have found heaps of info on this amp from http://bolt60.no.sapo.pt/
but i havent tried to contact Roland.

Such a fantastic amp! I found this on ebay and have not seen one since. I would buy another one givin the chance or even try and find the 100 watt version.
If you ever get the chance to buy or play one, do it!
This is one of history's most underrated amps of all time.
Again, if you ant to listen to this amp bieng used check
http://www.myspace.com/pioneersofgoodscience

Early 80's hybrid amp (SS pre and 6L6 tube power amp). Specs in other reviews accurate, so I won't rehash them here. It does what it was designed to do very well...it DOES have an early Boogie Mark series growl in the OD mode...not violin like sustain, but definitely a useable grit. Combined with a good OD pedal for the harmonics and sustain, this amp will do just about anything.

Amp performs well with both Single Coil and Hummers. I particularly like the mid shut down on the amp, and running just bass and treble adjustments with my American Strat. It definitely has that Fender spank that is so indicative of that instrument. Others here have remarked that the preamp is noisey, but mine is very, very quiet even with Single Coils sitting close to it. I've tried both a 12AX7 and a 12AU7 in the PI slot, and I like the 12AU7 the best...I play mostly jazz and like a clean, strong tone. This amp definitely has that. This is a very expressive amp, with good and balanced string tone across the gamet of all 6 strings. The Roland speaker might have something to do with that, since they tend to engineer speakers specifically for their particular amps, ala Cube 60, JC 120, etc.

Don't know yet...just got mine. I had a tech go through it and he cleaned it up a bit...was breaking up due to dirt in the effects loop switch. I had him make the recommended mod in the Standby circuit to cut high voltage out from BOTH the grids and plates when put in standby...original design only cut voltage to the plates, and the grids would simmer and cook while on standby, diminishing their life significantly.

Schematics and user manuals are easily found and downloaded from the internet, so any qualified amp tech can perform mods and/or maintenance/repair.

I've been playing over 40 years, and am falling in love with this little box...lots of headroom, warmth and wallop. It has the Fender Twin clean down pat at a much lighter load to lug around.

See previous reviews.

Very noisy preamp. I don??t know if this is a capacitor issue, but you can to avoid this. If you use external tube preamp and connect it to the "Main in" at the rear of the amp, you can get very nice results and warm sounding tube amp. This way you don??t use the preamp stage at all. Another way is to connect the effect loop send to the same "Main in". This somehow bypasses the noisy part of the preamp and you get more quiet amp. Try different settings with the loop selector switch and the the overdrive channel volume settings.

My amp has problems with the reverb tank, but otherwise no problems.

No experience.

I was never fully satisfied with my 70`s Vibrolux, Twin or Music Man. I even had a Yamaha G100-212 between my 6L6 and EL34 amps, but sold that too. Well, ok, would think twice selling Vibrolux now. But seems I like Bolt 60 more than all those butt warming suitcases back then.

Fairly basic controls, but that suits me. Has an effects loop and a headphone socket and a channel switch. Decent enough reverb. Solid State pre and valve power amp. Easily loud enough for pub size gigs. It's also a nice light weight. My last amp was a Peavey Duece,also a good amp, but just far too heavy to lug around.

The secret to this amp is to use a Sonic Maximiser - they cost around $60 on Ebay and its the first pedal you should get when buying this amp as it really opens the amp up. You wont believe the difference it makes. With the Sonic Maximiser, it will give vintage Fenders a run for their money. With the Sonic Maximiser a 9, without it a 7.

mine is 25 years old and going strong. Typical Roland. Well built.

Not used.

Been playing since the late 60's. Best amp I owned was a 70's Deluxe Reverb. In the 70's I owned a Vox AC30, but sold it when I got married. since then Ive owned a variety of mid priced amps, but none as good as the Fender. The Bolt is a good amp for a gigging guitarist. Very portable and suitable for most styles. Obviously not the best amp on the market, but if you can find one, it shouldn't cost more than ??250, and for that sort of money, its pretty hard to beat - and with the Sonic Maximiser, almost impossible.

I got this amp at Steve's Music in Toronto in 1979, when they first came out. I saw it advertised in some guitar player magazine of the day, and it looked pretty cool, being the first hybrid tube/solid state amp ever introduced. Its comparisons to Mesa Boogie amps are what clinched it for me, and it has been with me ever since. It's my main metal, blues, R&B, etc. amp. I blew out the stock spring reverb unit one crazy night, but after a couple of diodes were replaced the amp works fine. albeit without reverb. Funny thing about that reverb unit; the amp is made in Japan, but the reverb unit was "manufactured by beautiful girls in Milton Wis under atmosphere controlled conditions" as stated on its label!
Others have outlined the knob array so I won't reapeat.

I've never been able to go above 4 on the clean channel, or 6 on master with Vol 1 & 2 fully cranked on the overdrive side. I keep all the tone knobs up full and adjust on my guitar if necessary. I seldom use pedals, sometimes a Dunlop Crybaby, sometimes an MXR flanger. I also own a '64 Fender blond Bassman amp and the clean channel on my Roland compares very favourably, but hands down, for overdriven insane sustain, it's Roland all the way. The sound can seem muddy at times but I find that adjustment of the 3 volumes helps. New tubes also help! One small problem is the tube sockets for the 6L6s; they put a metal clip for the AX7 but the big old 6L6s just hangin upside down with no support, rattle an awful lot and I think rob power. I am replacing my stock sockets, one of which is cracked, with ceramic sockets with spring tube clamps. THAT oughtta hold 'em!

Like I said, this amp has been with me since 1979 when I walked out of the store with it. It has never failed, but again, the 6L6 sockets have gotten old and I'm replacing them.

Around 1990, when I blew it up while wearing headphones and blowing myself away with the sustain, Roland was able to provide my tech with schematics and he was able to fix it at very low cost. Unfortunately, the reverb unit no longer works. Hasn't been a problem as my sound guys usually have a nice digital delay (tape echo back in the day) in the FX rack.

I've been playing guitar for almost 30 years, also play keyboards, drums, harmonica, trumpet and accordion.
I play a '71 Les Paul custom with an SG pickup in the bridge (back) position and regular P90 at the neck (front).
I would track down another if this one were lost or stolen! After 27 years, it has grown on me. I delivers an amazing phat fat loud sound. Compared well to the Mesa all in ones of the era, for a lot less money, and offered the solid state features like effects loop and EQ options, line out, etc. Marshall stack was the other way to go, and again, too much dough, and too much space in the house, plus too much lugging. Again, spring clamps or metal clip ceramic sockets for the 6L6 tubes would've saved me some problems!

For such a small amp, it has a lot of options... (for an an early 80's amp that is!)

I really like the sound of this amp, I use it on the clean channel with the volume set to about 8.5

The over all sound is pretty stable. I only use Groove Tubes in it and replace them every couple of years or so.

I've slowly moved from the big stacks to smaller combo's. I moved to a couple of marshall 30 combo's live, but for the past six year I've been using the bolt60 and although it's been smashed about it's yet to skip a beat.

Note: the back pannel was smashed in on the way to a gig up the coast back in about 1999, So I've been using it as a full open backed amp since.

don't know, never had to call for it.

I've been playing guitar since 1983.
my gear is pretty simple:
Guitar 1956 maple strat ( DiMarzio HS1 pickups )
Guitar 1989 Jap Strat ( DeMarzio HS3 pickups )
Guitar 1985 Profile Strat copy ( DeMarzio HotRail at the Bridge end )
Guitar 1970 Maton accoustic ( after market under bridge pickup )
Effect 198? RAT drive pedal
Effect 1987 Jim Dunlop Wah Wah ( Cry Baby )
Effect Roland GS6 rack mounted multi-effect.

I picked up the Roland 60 amp to use at home, as I was using a WASP 200watt Stack live and would leave that with the rest of the FOH gear. but after loading the WASP head and quads in and out of gigs for a couple of years, I needed to find something smaller ( lighter ).
I started using a couple of Marshall 30 combo's, but they only lasted for about three years. So I ended up using the Roland and have been for about 8 years now.

I use the amp mainly for recordings. The delivered power is amazing, far loud enough. I'm using dynamic mics because of the power, and because of the sound: a condenser mic would have to be attenuated, and its sensibility to high frequencies would be of no use, because the amp is POOR in high end.
Versatility is definitely not the point: the overdrive channel is problematic, and the sound is warm but not so precise.
The overall response curve I have measured (fixed EQ, many takes with different guitars) is not always relevant. To me it is due to the electrical design. The grounding is not 100% efficient: I get some volts for free each time I'm plugging off...

I'm playing a late 1970's active Blade Levinson Strat-style and a Les Paul Standard with Alnico humbuckers.
If the amp is not very versatile, it fits very well with the style I'm playing: rock, songwriting, spanish and arab tunes/mixed with rock patterns. The amp is noisy, more than other tube amps. Again, the electric design is confusing. But the noise floor is ok for me.

I was unable to distort the clean channel, even at high levels.

The overdrive channel is problematic. It has a poor sustain, but a nice "cracky" - read:light distorted - attack. I was able to make it sound ok, but it comes to amazing settings which affect the musicality. The light distorted attack on overdrive channel is due to the ECC83 tube I'm using together with 2 Groove Tube 6L6.

But the ECC83 helps to get a beautiful clean sound with the guitars I'm playing.

It is a "3rd-hand" amp: a friend bought it from a pro guitarist, and sold it to me. I wouldn't use on a gig without backup (at least tubes+fuse), just like any other amp.
The amp never broke down, I change tubes regularly.

Reliability seems to be a strong point with that amp. Mine is almost 30 years old, and I'm using it every day, playing and recording between "2" and "4" - getting over "4" is not possible to me, see what I'm saying above about the delivered power :-)

I love it because it's ...imprecise and very warm-sounding.
If it was stolen or lost, I wouldn't buy the same amp. My dream is: the warmth of the Roland Bolt 60 with more precision and a more detailed response, especially in the high end.
I compared it to a Marshall JCM (far too "heavy rock" for my style) and a genuine Fender Twin 100 W (beautiful). The Fender would be nice but a little poor in medium frequencies.

The Roland Bolt 60 is very reliable and offers a powerful, consistent warm sound. The overdrive channel is not good, but for distorted sound, playing on the clean channel with a good pedal is a-ma-zing.
The Bolt 60 is an excellent entry amp to practice and record, and loud enough for gigs.

OK the features are a joke. Confusing channel switching, 3 "volume" controls + master volume. You can put the FX loop pre of post EQ???? They spent their R&D money on weed and call girls if you ask me.

Here is the skinny on this amp: the clean is sound is PRETTY GOOD. Not amazing, not very good, pretty good. It has 2 6L6 tubes, if you replace those with some good ones, put in a nice 12AX7 in there too, and DONT USE THE DISTORTION CHANNEL. Argghgghgh it sounds like bees humping in mud. Kills all your tone.

Just use a NICE stompbox gain pedal and you will be good to go.

Still works after 20+ years.

I'm guessing they wouldnt even know what you're talking about if you mention the Bolt 60. "Check the S/PDIF output" is what they would tell you LOL.

Worth $150 for a nice little beater of an amp. My cats use it for a scratching post, I guess its useful for something.

Definitely try to buy a vintage 60s fender if you can swing it. I see bassmans going for like $200 all the time on craigslist. This would be a second choice to vintage fender for decent clean tone.

Everyone know its a 1980's limited release and Roland's only tubie. Mine's a head unit and I'm a 1969 harp player who shoulda picked up the guitar a long time ago, so I'm short on experience but heavy on music styles.

I play(?) an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus (basic alnico humbuckers)and also use the low impedance input for harping. Volume is no problem with mine - it appears to have been used but not abused - has two newish looking 6L6 GT tubes and it is loud from 3 onward. Distortion channel is a trick to make good sound with but the clean channel stays clean. I'll get a stomp box for delay and other effects.

Seems solid with excellent pots, solid jack connections and no noises excpet mine...

No need here yet...

For my first amp I feel fortunate to find this one - doubt another one os coming along any time soon again so I'll keep this well guarded. A great buy at just $165 - I built a 2X12 pine board/spruce ply cab for it with tweed covering and 160 watts of potential. Have no comparative experiences so it's gotta be good enough for now - I love it actually - it plays loud quite nicely, thank you very much. Anyone know where I can get the two-button foor switch - or a schematic to make one?

This is some kinda 80s amp. Its no valvetronix on versatility, but it is the only tube amp from roland. I play nothing too heavy and love blues and jazz feels. it can really get some cool rock a billy sounds from the right tele. mine has a fane speaker that i know nothing about, and a Qc electronics reverb which I also no nothing about. it came to be beat to hell and wouldnt play more that 20 minutes. someone who had it before me got crafty relpacing a relay and mad the amp go crazy so I relpace the relay with hard wiring, and sodered a new fuse holder in. thats about al I have done for now. the channel switch from roland is a must have. for the switching. the knobs look sweet so dose the whole orange face motif.

the cleam channel has an amazing warmth to it. it makes the guitar sing. I have some old rca tubes in it now and am about to get some vintage tubes from my tube supplyer and replace the 6l6s and the 12at7 with a 12 ax7 so the preamp wi be a little hotter and more to my liking. the distortion is a bit to bland for my taste. it lacks sustain for some reason. it is like is is almost muti9ng my guitar. i think it might be because of my tubes or something, I dont know. Iwas thinking about building a mesastyle preamp for it to get the exact sond that i want with 2 12ax7s, but I think it might just be the 12at7 that I have in it now that is making me want more. other than that it is an amazing sounding little combo. I think the fane speaker I have helps add to the fell of my map.

mine has been through hell and tampered with like mad and still works, go roland. I am going to find the schematics for it one day and when I do it is over i amgoing to make these in my kitchen. they are amazing little amps.

none to be had

this is one of the funnest amps to play . through a 57 on it and crank it up a tad and you are good for almost any vintage sounding gig you care for. I play it with a tele and it makes me want an es 135 with p 90s. I have a Vox valvetronixs I play on gigs too and having both of these amps is a life saver for those mellow tube souds and just the slight mesa hint that you can find in the bolt. I can sond how i want when I want with no problems. I am prolly going to record with this amp also. it has the sond and the fell for some songs I play. I have had it about a year and have finally gotten it nearly perfect (tuning this amp I mean).